Monday, March 03, 2003

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers - From Personal to Public

Covey calls the first three habits, private victories, since they deal with character growth. As you build your character and become independent, you have the foundation for interdependence which are the focus of the next three habits. He describes a progression from dependence to independence to interdependence, with the latter being the most fulfilling state.

In blogging, if we don't have a name from some other field, we start off highly dependent on others for links and blogrolls. Another sign of dependent blogging is when we are emotionally consumed by what somebody else has blogged. After a time, will realize that we don't have to react to every post, that we can speak our mind, and that we can not represent our entire personna on our blog, nor should he try. We also come to realize that our blogging has consequences, and how we say something is often as important as what we say. Proactive blogging starts with taking responsibility and keeping you eye on what you are trying to accomplish with your blog.

The interdependence of blogging comes when we interact with others. Currently, interpendence in blogging is largely limited to those with similiar views. True conversation or reasoned debate are extremely rare. Some have recognized this and are trying to get beyond the ranting and rhetoric. In the next few days we will see if Covey's public habits can be applied to help us raise the level of blogversation and interdependence in the blogosphere.